Parton brings a wealth of experience into his new role
“Community development was my first love,” said John Parton, the City of Benton’s new Director of Community Development.
Parton will be replacing Brad Jordan, who resigned from the position at the end of May.
Parton said his passion for public service was sparked by his father when he was growing up.
“It comes from my dad,” said Parton.
His dad worked for a largescale construction contractor that worked on projects all around the nation. Parton went to five different high schools because his family had to move often due to the nature of his father’s job.
“Through my dad, I got to see how things come together,” he added.
Parton brings more than 30 years of public service experience with him in the new role. He has spent his career serving in community development and working in higher education at colleges throughout the United States.
Parton said a lecture from a city manager he heard while attending college at Moorehead State University in Kentucky helped him realize that his passion was community development and that it was something he wanted to pursue as a career.
Parton received his master’s degree in Public Administration from Eastern Kentucky University.
After graduating college, Parton went on to serve as a community and economic development specialist for the Buffalo Trace Area Development District in Maysville, Kentucky in 1991 in which he had a wide range of duties. Some of his duties included planning, grant writing, grant administration, business development and recruitment. Parton also lead an economic development plan during his tenure. He worked with local governments as well providing them assistance in the area of community development.
“I learned a bit about everything,” he added.
Following his tenure with the Buffalo Trace Area Development District, Parton began working in higher education, where he remained for around 20 years. He started as an admissions counselor for William Carey University in Mississippi for two years, Parton would then go on to work as the assistant director of undergraduate admission at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Not long after, Parton would find him himself back at William Carey University where he served as director of programs. He would then find himself in the same role as the director of undergraduate programs at Berry College in Georgia where he worked for nine years. Parton worked at Chattahoochee Technical College in Georgia as executive director of institutional effectiveness and at West Georgia Technical College, as the vice president for institutional effectiveness.
Parton is now coming back for more, as the new director of Community Development for Benton, circling back to the field of work that he started his career in.
“I’m happy to be getting back to my roots,” he said.
Parton said he believes one of the best things that can be done in community development is leveraging existing resources and coordinating with the residents and private businesses to foster growth in the community.
“The better job we do up front, the better job we do after,” he said.